New Zealand’s South Island, Part 2: Queenstown & Fiordland National Park
Once we crossed over the Haast Pass and entered Central Otalgo, everything brightened up! We left the clouds & rain behind us and entered into a sunny beautiful lake country! Lake Wanaka & Lake Hawea are both a gorgeous blue color accented by the yellow grasslands on soft rolling hills. We stayed in Wanaka for the night before continuing on south.
We heard about a very scenic drive just northwest of Queenstown to a town named Glenorchy and knew we had to see for ourselves. Glenorchy is a small town nicknamed “Gateway to Paradise” and the drive follows along Lake Wakatipu.
As you make a sharp right turn away from Queenstown, you immediately catch sight of Mt Aspiring NP mountain peaks and a few glaciers in the distance! The drive itself is only 45min each way without stops, but of course we made some stops! We walked down to Bob’s Cove and up to Bennett’s Bluff before arriving in Glenorchy. We found the old Steamship Depot and enjoyed some mid-afternoon treats from Mrs Woolly’s General Store. We also got a preview for our trail the next day since Glenorchy is the access point to the Routeburn Track! We are so glad we did this side trip, since it was the most beautiful driving we saw all trip!
One of the big bucket list items for our NZ trip was to complete one of the Great Hikes. There are 10 “Great Hikes” throughout New Zealand as designated by the DOC. The Routeburn Track is the shortest of the hikes at 23 miles (including Conical Hill and Key Summit) and can be completed in 2-3 days. We started in Mt Aspiring National Park and ended in Fiordland National Park following a spectacular greenstone path.
On day 1, we hiked 4 miles through a beech forest covered in moss and followed a crystal clear river through a gorge and into the river flats. From the moment we stepped foot on the trail, it started to rain. We were able to get our tent up in a break in the rain, and then the skies opened and it rained all night. We received about 12cm (5in) of rain and fortunately our rental tent held up and we stayed dry! Our campsite at Routeburn Flats had some amazing glacier carved valley views peeping in and out of clouds. The hut ranger Jo was very kind to the 3 tent campers and invited us into the warm hut for the 7:30pm ranger talk and left us a note in the morning to come into the hut for breakfast and to warm up. The cost to stay in the hut is 5x more expensive then camping, so usually the hut facilities are reserved only for those who paid for the amenities. We definitely appreciated her kindness!
Day 2 was our big 10 mile day going up and over Harris Saddle. We crossed a fresh landslide and headed up to Routeburn Falls & Lake Harris. We made it to Harris Saddle for lunch and then crossed over into the Fiordland NP side. Despite the rain & clouds, we actually had moderately good views given the weather! The clouds moved quickly through this huge valley so we could see the mountain range, lakes, and glaciers across the way! The grouping of glacier carved mountains to the south were too numerous to count. And the lake to the north was spectacular when it poked through. We made it down to Lake Mackenzie campsite after a tedious 1.5 hour downhill switchback through the forest and settled in for a cold night. This campsite was far from the hut, deep in the forest, with concrete pads. Our tent was still wet from the night before and the temperature dropped to below 40F. It was a very cold and sleepless night but that’s all part of the story when taking on a multi-day.
We awoke to a beautiful day 3 for our last 9 miles. The views back into the valley were spectacular, especially from Key Summit, and we really could appreciate the trail we just hiked! We also realized how much we didn’t see the day before… the mountains across the valley were incredible! We also passed the largest waterfall we’ve seen so far, Earland Falls is 174m (525ft) tall. The trail was also oddly quiet with minimal birds and no land animals moving. It was very strange but also peaceful. We completed the trail with our camp friends, a lovely couple from Texas, who braved the campsite conditions with us! The nights were rough weather wise, and the views were diminished by the clouds, but this was still a top hike that we’ve ever done! We already have our eyes on some of the other Great Hikes like Kepler, Heaphy, and Milford!
We grabbed the bus back to Queenstown from the end of the Routeburn track to rest and recover. Queenstown is a beautiful resort town on Lake Wakatipu and is the self proclaimed adventure capital of NZ. The most popular restaurant you’ll hear about when planning a trip to NZ is Fergburger, a famous burger joint in Queenstown. Our first meal off the trail were 2 massive Ferburgers and our last meal before leaving Queenstown was another Fergburger. There’s always a line but trust us, it’s worth it.
Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of the world. You can do skydiving, bungy jumping, mountain biking, jet boating, white water rafting, canyoning etc. You name it, Queenstown has it and with the most beautiful backdrop. Susan has already visited New Zealand 2 times before this trip (it’s her favorite country) and she has done the world’s first bungy jumping at Kawarau Bridge, mountain biking, jet boating, and canyoning. Definitely would recommend all of those activities here!! However, this time around the ‘adrenaline activity’ we could muster up the energy for was the Skyline gondola & luge. It sounds silly but it was so much fun! We rode the steepest gondola in the southern hemisphere straight up the side of a mountain for some spectacular views of Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables mountain range. We then proceeded to race Mario kart style down a luge course. We are both pretty competitive, which led to us flying down the mountain and getting some looks from bystanders. The karts are all weight/gravity based and if you don’t break, you can really pick up some speed! We timed it so there were no kids directly in front of us and definitely tested the limits and got on two wheels on some turns.
That afternoon we left Queenstown to drive south to Te Anau. It is the gateway town to Milford Sound. Milford Sound is the most popular fjord of New Zealand’s Fiordland National Park and is the stunning end point of the scenic Milford Highway. The southwest corner of the NZ’s southern island is covered in many fjords (misnamed as a ‘sound’ by the first explorers). A fjord is a valley carved by glaciers and is then back flowed by the sea and fills with water. In order to make up for the mistaken naming of the sounds, NZ named the entire UNESCO heritage site Fiordland National Park.
The 119km scenic drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound is almost as gorgeous as the fiord itself. In order to stay ahead of the Queenstown traffic, we stayed in Te Anau the night before so we could get a head start on the day. On the scenic drive, we made stops at Mirror Lakes, Pop’s View, Lake Marian Falls and Gertrude Saddle before crossing through Homer’s Tunnel. Homer’s Tunnel takes you from the east side of the mountain range and drops you into the heart of the fjords landscape. Exiting the tunnel is absolutely breathtaking with views of sheer cliffs overlapping with each other as you continue further down the valley.
Milford Sound is a natural wonder and truly takes your breath away when you first see it. Kilometer high granite walls carved by glaciers rise up out of the indigo colored water. Mitre Peak stands at 1692m tall and it’s razor sharp cliffs are iconic when you think of NZ. It changes appearance from morning to evening, and rainy to sunny.
We were incredibly lucky for our first day in Milford Sound to have a perfectly clear day! It rains over 200 days a year in this area! We went out on an afternoon eco cruise to the edge of Milford Sound and back. We could admire the tall granite walls up close, enjoy several waterfalls, check out some sleeping seals, and more! Our driver had fun with our boat and pulled up right next to the seals and dunked the front of the ship into Stirling Falls! We ended our night at the Milford Sound Lodge and watched the sun set behind Mitre Peak. The Milford Sound Lodge is the only place to stay after leaving Te Anau and books up very fast. They have both hotel rooms and campervan spots. If you have the extra time in your itinerary to stay the night, it is so amazing to watch everyone return back to Te Anau/Queenstown and Milford Sound quiet down into it’s natural state with just a handful of visitors left.
One of the reasons we wanted to stay in Milford Sound was to be able to access part of the Milford Track. The Milford Track is a 53.5km one way trail from Te Anau to Milford Sound that is completed in 4 days. It is the old trail that Māori and early settlers used to access Milford Sound and has some amazing history with it. It is THE Great Walk to complete and is incredibly competitive to get a permit & hut; this year all the permits sold out in under a minute (some claim 10 seconds)!
We did not get a permit this time around, but we were still interested in the hike. So we took a water taxi from Sandfly Beach to the end of the trail. We walked backwards for 5.5km to Giants Gate Falls. Most of the trail was in thick moss covered beech forest with canopies of ferns. It was a lovely walk to finish off our time in Milford Sound.
Our last stop in the Central Otalgo region is Wanaka, a less touristy town just north of Queenstown. It has access to some amazing hiking, biking, skiing, and water sports as well. We had plans to do one hike and one bike ride while in Wanaka. We met a lovely French couple standing in line for the Rotorua redwood trees who were finishing 6 weeks in a Campervan. We asked them what was their favorite thing they did so far. Both answered Rob Roy Glacier hike outside Wanaka without hesitation. Neither of us had heard of this hike (or even this glacier!) but I guess we knew what hike we would be doing in Wanaka!
The hike was about 50km outside of Wanaka, the first 20km on paved road, the last 30km on gravel. Rigby didn’t love the 30km gravel… and we had to drive SO slow. But we made it to the parking lot eventually. Going slow wasn’t a problem though since this gravel road winded through the stunning Matukituki valley filled. There were at least 3000 sheep & 800 cows scattered among the valley that we learned belonging to a 4th generation rancher. These cows and sheep must be the happiest animals in the world to free graze here! No wonder the NZ meat & cheese taste so good!!
Our hike to Rob Roy Glacier began by crossing a swinging bridge over the glacier blue Rob Roy Stream. We could see Dart Glacier in the distance above a fairytale looking pasture. We hiked around a corner and up through beech forest, following the stream, and emerged above the tree line with an IMAX worthy view. Rob Roy Glacier took up the entire view, and was so close! You literally could not see everything without moving your eyes as the glacier face was so wide and so close! It truly looked like something you would need to hike multiple days to find, not a few hours! The hike back down was equally as beautiful as we re-entered the Matukituki Valley!
Susan heard about a new bike trail that just opened in 2022 about an hour east of Wanaka along Lake Dunstan. This new trail is set to be an iconic cycling trail and isn’t even in the guidebooks yet! It is a 42km bike trail from Cromwell to Clyde with about 2.2km of steep ascents. The trail begins in Cromwell and winds along the Clutha River through wine country.
Our first stop was around the 10km mark at Carrick winery for a coffee & rose! This winery is set atop of a hill with spectacular views. We had gorgeous weather and honestly didn’t want to keep going! After an hour of relaxing and enjoying our drinks, we finally got back in the saddle for rest of the ride.
We rode along Lake Dunstan and Clutha River heading east to Clyde. The trail was a little harder than expected (maybe that’s why they offer eBike rentals 😅) with multiple steep ascents. The constantly changing views of the mountains and lake were stunning. And there were several sections of boardwalks built into the rock which were very fun to ride on! We rode past the Clyde dam and finished in the tiny town of Clyde with celebratory beers at the old Post Office!
New Zealand as a whole is an incredibly diverse and beautiful country. But the real magic is in this southern region of the South Island. Wanaka, Queenstown, and Milford Sound have so much to offer and our 9 days in the area just kept us wanting to see more. The last part of time in New Zealand will be spent driving back north to Auckland (top of the North Island) with some epic stops along the way!